Drug-free Chandpur campaign on

Health Desk-June 02, 2017: Different government agencies in Chandpur district are holding various programmes to create awareness among the people against drugs abuse, which has started yielding results.

Sources at the Detective Branch (DB) of Police said that there are about 300 drug peddlers in the district, considered as a major route for drug smuggling.

The district administration, Department of Narcotics Control and district police administration have been organising anti-drug meetings, rallies and cultural functions regularly since January 2016.

Cultural functions have been organised in the district alongside anti-drug meetings and rallies.

A total of 583 rallies and cultural programmes were held in 2016 while 204 have been held till April this year. The police will organise 200 more rallies and cultural functions by October.

A total of 119 drug peddlers and drug addicts who were released from jail till May 23 vowed at the rallies that they would give up using and peddling drugs.

After Superintendent of Police (SP) Shamsunnahar joined in June of 2015, she announced zero-tolerance against drugs and started awareness campaigns in different localities of every upazila, said Additional Superintendent of Police (ASP) in the district Mohammad Ashrafuzzaman

Sub-Inspector (SI) of DB Khandker Ismail Hossain said drug abuse has fallen by 40 percent, thanks to mass awareness drives by the police.

Mentionable that police and DB recovered a huge amount of narcotics, including Yaba, Phensidyl, cannabis and alcohol worth about Tk 2.25 crore, in anti-drug drives since January 2016.